Exam (elaborations)
A Streetcar Named desire: Example Answer
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- A-Level English Language And Literature
An example answer to a practice question for the English Language and Literature A-Level.
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Refer to scene 5Beginning, “Blanche is seating in the bedroom” and
Ending “And I-I’m fading now!”.
This interaction occurs at the beginning of scene 5. Blanche dreams of being with Shep. Huntley and
overhears a fight. Stanley walks in and grills Blanche.
Referring to these lines and other parts of the play, examine how and why Williams presents
Stanley as a symbol of reality.
Answer:
Within scene 5 and the wider play, Williams presents Stanley as a symbol of reality to contrast
Blanche’s melodramatic character and façade and to represent the fall of the old south and rise of
the new south.
In scene 5 we see Williams present this as Stanley implies that Blanche was a prostitute and that she
is not the upper-class virtuous woman she presents herself as. This can be seen when Stanley states
‘You won’t pick up nothing here you ain’t heard before.’ The declarative here presents Stanley as an
imposing force of reality on Blanche as she is presenting herself through a façade of upper-class
values. This is also representative of the power struggle between Blanche and Stanley throughout
the play as Blanche is trying to present herself as a high higher-class woman who has a higher social
status than Stanley and the people in the quarter. Stanley retaliates to this by replying with the
declarative and asserting his own power as a man. We also see this within this scene when Stanley
states ‘He goes in and out of Laurel all the time, so he can check on it and clear up any mistake.’
Stanley uses this declarative again to impose reality on Blanche and make her fearful of the truth.
This can be seen through Blanche’s use of the exclamative and interrogative ‘Stella! What have you
heard about me?’ The exclamative and interrogative here depict her as being fearful or paranoid
that the people around her know the truth about her past and her life and that they have realised
her facade is fake.
In addition to this scene, we see Williams portray Stanley as a symbol of reality in scene 10 where he
exposes Blanche and her façade before raping her. This can be seen through his use of exclamative
‘There is no millionaire!’, ‘There isn’t a goddam thing but imagination!’ ‘And lies and conceit and
tricks!’ the use of the exclamative here depict Stanley as imposing reality onto blanche in a forceful
and deliberate way to revel her secrets and immoral past. This is also representative of the new
south overruling the old south as Stanley is representative of the New Southern culture as he is a
second generation, working-class immigrant who hold the values of the new south. Thus, by
revealing Blanche’s façade and past, Stanley is effectively revealing the immorality of the old south
and it’s past such as slavery. This scene also presents Blanche’s façade as being broken down by
Stanley when he states ‘Drop the bottle-top! Drop it! We’ve had this date with each other from the
beginning!’ The use of exclamative imperatives here depicts Stanley as asserting dominance over
Blanche due to his physical power and position as a man. Furthermore, this scene is representative
of the overthrowing of the old south by the new south as Blanche has fallen to her demise as a result
of her desire and has been overpowered by Stanley who represents the new southern working class.
Another scene in which we see Williams presenting Stanley as a symbol of reality can be seen in
Scene 11. ‘Seizes the paper lantern, tearing it off the light bulb, and extends it towards her. She cries
out as if it was herself.’ The forceful possessive verbs ‘seizes’ and ‘tearing’ depicts Stanley as a
forceful and powerful force of reality that has exposed Blanche’s façade. The metaphor of the ‘paper
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